The Kiks and I are on our way to St. Louis today for tastings with the bakery and hotel for the reception. We picked vendors that we knew were great so there should be minimal discussion and we should be at the mall trying on shoes in no time!
Speaking of decisions…
What did you do for your guest book? A traditional book? A picture frame? Note cards?
I found this company Elizabeth Clark Designs and her products are fantastic. How do you feel about a platter? Check out her website for full details.
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I went to a wedding where the guestbook was a large personalized plate and it was so cute! But for our wedding we had a huge blank mat that people signed then we had large wedding picture framed with it. It turned out so great and it’s hanging in a central part of our home so we look at it frequently.
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The personalized plate is perfect and so original! I made a Shutterfly book with half of the pages containing our engagement pictures and the other half blank for guests to sign or leave personal messages. I loved our engagement photos so I was happy to find yet another way to include them in our day! Enjoy your tastings!
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We purchased a coffee table book that contained photos of the city where we got married (Charleston, SC) and then had guests sign on their favorite page. It provides us with great memories from our wedding weekend and looks nice displayed on our coffee table or book shelf.
i went to a wedding recently and they had a large silver platter with the couple’s monogram on it that everyone signed with a special pen that basically engraved the platter with their comments. It was a really neat idea! Long link, but it was something like this: http://weddings.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=weddings&cdn=style&tm=17&f=20&su=p284.9.336.ip_p531.52.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.silvergallery.com/engraving_pen/
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I used a black scrapbook type book with gel pens for the guests to write with. I then took black & white photos of the hubby & myself through the years that I printed in 4×6 & adheared to the center of every other page. It turned out so great. It’s a little traditional, but still different at the same time.
We had a framed engagement portrait with a huge mat for people to sign- and then we also put out my bride’s book. I wish we’d done something a little bit *more* than the bride’s book because I can honestly say I have no clue where it is. We do have the signed mat hanging on the wall, though, so that was fine.
I just went to a wedding where the bride had made a scrapbook, and we signed scrapbook pages. I liked that idea because she incorporated not only their engagement pictures, and her bridals, but also mementos from their wedding planning.
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I think the plate is super cute!!! Our friends had a Memphis book on the table since they were getting married in Memphis which I thought was a great idea:)
We did a signature mat and had it framed. It looks awesome in our house, and people LOVE to look at it when they come over to “find” their signature. We have an 8×10 black/white pic in it and it hangs right in our entryway. I love it because a guest book would collect dust in my house; this is a cool way to display a photo and all our loved ones who were there that day!
I wanted something that would be functional and that I’d actually want to display… which, for me, wouldn’t be a photo mat or a plate. We went with a photo book with pictures from Philadelphia, and chose one with lots of white space around each picture. It worked out wonderfully — the guests loved looking through it, and most actually signed around a picture of importance with some little story (i.e., discussing how they used to row for Temple 30 years ago, so they signed by the picture of Boathouse Row… my 9 year old cousins signing next to the picture of the Franklin Institute because they just visited it that morning and loved it, etc.). Since it’s a beautiful book on its own, I am happy to display it on our coffee table (unlike a book with pictures of us or just a blank signing book), and the messages and memories make it even more special.
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We did a guest quilt! We had each couple sign a square of fabric that we will trace with embroidery (my summer project) then my aunt will create a quilt with the signed squares and other fabrics from our wedding. For me, a semi-functional piece was the best option because I knew a book would be relegated to the shelf and never looked at.
I love the platter idea, but I also love the idea of having everyone sign a large mat and then framing it around a wedding photo… perhaps you could do both?
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We had a coffee table book by Florida photographer Clyde Butcher. It is sitting in our living room now and guests flip through it often. I loved it!
I love the idea of a platter!!
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I like the plate idea! We are thinking of making a photobook of all of our pictures, the engagement pics, along with some of our fave pictures from over the years. My grandma bought me a traditional white guest book, but I think we’ll just use that for the ceremony.
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We did the polaroid guest book and we absolutely loved it. We look at it ALL the time. I like it a lot more than if we had done a traditional photo booth, since polaroids have so much more character.
A friend of mine also did something that I loved. They had their guests sign 10 bottles of wine, and they will open one each year on their anniversary for the first 10 years. Then, of course, they can keep the bottles after that. I love that idea!!
Angela´s last blog ..traditional anniversary gifts what do you think
For Grandma’s birthday I bought a photo album from Target, so the guests signed in the ‘memories’ column and then we had a friend go around and take pictures of everyone. Then we put the pictures in the slots next to where the person signed in. It was a fun twist on a guest book!
love that idea! i think we are going to do a coffee table book of NC … then people can sign pages that mean something and we’ll have a great book of our state signed by our loved ones!
I went to a wedding last weekend and the Bride is by far the most creative- maybe ever!
we have stolen the idea for our wedding (October 30 2010)….
She had 2 whiteboards set up on a table… it was surrounded by pictures of them holding the white boards with messages on them… (one picture said “Roast us or Toast us” then then next said “Cheers and tears” and so on…) there were 3 pictures of them with the white boards. Then all of the guests write a different message to the bride and groom and a woman who worked at the reception took the guests picture (camera set up on tripod)with their message to the bride and groom on the white board! They are making a scrapbook/ coffee table book out of all the pictures of all the guests who wrote them messages on the white boards!
It will be so nice to see who wrote you the message on your special day! and not just have someone writing in a book….
By far the most creative! We have been to 6 weddings so far this year… and ours is the last! It will be wedding #12 for us for the year!!!!
Good luck!
Katie
We had note cards made with our monogram and wedding date and instead of a guest book we asked people to leave us words of wisdom to a happy and healthy marriage. After signing they dropped them in a silver serving bowl that was engraved with our wedding date. My plan was to turn them into a book, but ultimately we’ve left them in the bowl and they sit in our china cabinet
Whenever I want a good laugh I just go grab a handful and read the little personalized notes. We had the note cards at the church and reception so lots of people left multiples as ideas popped in their head as the night wore on. As you can imagine the funniest ones were added towards the end of the party 
I actually used a platter as well a few years ago at my wedding and it looks great hanging on my wall. I am a photographer so I see lots of different ideas. A groom I did is a drummer so they used a drum head. I’ve seen people have a tree painted out and have guests use thumbprints and write their name underneath it. Lots of people do the matte and picture, but that’s so “ordinary.” Engagement books and signing them are something I’ve seen too. Having a poloraid camera and guests taking pics of themselves, signing them, and putting them in an album is a cool way to include them!